


Shards

by Elisexyz



Series: Shoulder to shoulder [3]
Category: Timeless (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canonical Character Death, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Not Canon Compliant - s02e11-12 The Miracle of Christmas (Timeless)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-31 20:11:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21255635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elisexyz/pseuds/Elisexyz
Summary: Lucy is worried. (And with good reason, it turns out.)
Relationships: Garcia Flynn & Connor Mason, Garcia Flynn/Lucy Preston
Series: Shoulder to shoulder [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1390429
Comments: 8
Kudos: 46





	Shards

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MissCrazyWriter321](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissCrazyWriter321/gifts).

> Written for the "Embrace" prompt in the Whumptober 2019 event.  
  
And months later, I actually wrote the sequel to the sequel to what was supposed to be just a small stand-alone fic! Credit to (surprise surprise) Misscrazywriter321 for the comment that gave me the idea for this. Enjoy!

Lucy is worried.

It isn’t so unusual for Flynn to disappear for a while, so she would normally give him a little more time before coming across as the hopeless worrier she is, but yesterday he seemed a little off, and if at the time she dismissed it as her own perception screwed by her need for a good night’s sleep after the latest mission, combined with how he hasn’t gotten out of his room all day it becomes a more pressing concern.

She considers waiting until after dinner, but then she elects that asking him if he is coming out to eat could be a good excuse to check on him.

“Flynn?” she calls out a few minutes after coming to her decision, already pushing the door open. “Can I—” The words die in her throat when she finds Flynn sitting on his bed with Mason next to him. The sight of the two of them sitting so close together is already a strange one, but Flynn is holed up on himself, as if trying to appear as small as his frame will allow him, and even from all the way to the door Lucy can see that his eyes are red and swollen.

“Oh,” she breathes out, without even realizing it.

“Hey,” Flynn greets her, roughly wiping his face with his hand, for whatever good that does.

Lucy still has her hand on the door, and for a second she considers running out, feeling like she has intruded on something that she wasn’t supposed to see – since when are Flynn and Mason such close friends, though? –, but Flynn looks so _miserable_, and she knows that the only way that she is walking away from this is if he throws her out.

“Hey,” she echoes, softly, closing the door behind her before heading towards them. She walks slowly, trying to give Flynn time to signal that she isn’t welcome, but he doesn’t, even shifting slightly towards Mason as if to highlight that there is room for her.

The first thing that she does upon sitting down is wrapping herself around his arm, because she needs to _do_ something, but maybe she shouldn’t be all over him just yet. He never hesitates when it comes to offering her hugs, but he has never _asked_ for one that she can remember.

“Can I ask what happened?”

Flynn glances at her, swallowing heavily and trying to wipe away a few more tears as soon as they fill his eyes. “I’m fine,” he chokes out, which must be the least convincing lie Lucy has heard in her whole life. “It’s just—” He falters. “Today it’s—”

Lucy is about to take back the question, say that he doesn’t have to explain and that it’s alright, because the sight of him choking on whatever it is that he’s trying to say makes her throat close up too, but Mason decides to intervene.

“It’s his daughter’s birthday,” he informs her, quietly. Flynn tenses a little besides her, and Lucy holds tighter onto him, fighting back a wave of nausea and somehow guilt, because isn’t that something that she should have cared to know? She knows Flynn, he’ll hardly ask for help, she could have tried to prevent all the time he probably spent reminiscing on his own. “We just had a long talk,” Mason adds, and Lucy gives him a nod of acknowledgement and gratefulness.

The silence drags, and it is somehow uncomfortable, because for all that Lucy is aware that there is nothing she could say, her brain scrambles for something to _help_ nonetheless. She wants to take it all away, maybe somehow distract him from his pain the way he is so good at doing when _her_ thoughts start spiralling out of control. She wants to apologize for not _knowing_, for not making it her business to know these things, and instead she takes a mental note not to come unprepared the next time.

(She wants to ask why he didn’t come to her, if he _knows_ that he can come to her, that she will always be willing to help, even if she might not be particularly capable, but perhaps it is not the time.)

“_Well_,” Mason says, his flippant voice cutting through the thick silence and making Lucy and Flynn both jump a little on their seats. “Today I have beaten my record of time spent keeping my mouth shut. I believe my work here is done. I’ll leave you two alone.”

He sends Flynn a glance that Lucy can’t seem to decipher, and from her angle she can’t see Flynn’s reaction either, but she hears his rough ‘Thanks’, which Mason acknowledges with a nod.

Mason grabs the still not empty bottle left on the bed, considering it for a moment before glancing at Flynn, eventually taking it with him and heading out.

Lucy holds her breath until the door has closed, her hold on Flynn’s arm not lessening one bit. She grabs his hand too, feeling a wave of relief when he squeezes right back.

“Can I help?” she asks, quietly, moving her thumb across his knuckles.

He draws in a shaky breath, sending her a glance through horribly glassy eyes. “You are already,” he says, barely audible.

Lucy has to swallow back a wave of tears – she swears, sympathetic crying is the most unhelpful reaction she could have in this situation, she needs to take a grip and control herself for a change – before she can muster up what she hopes is an affectionate smile. “Can I hug you properly then?”

She gets a brief nod as an answer, and she’s quick to untangle herself from Flynn’s arm, regretfully letting go of his hand only to grab it right back as soon as she has managed to slide one arm around his waist, squeezing tight when he embraces her shoulders in turn, her cheek pressed against him.

It probably isn’t the best position from which to offer consolation, but he is so _big_ and she has no idea how to make him a little spoon.

Flynn doesn’t seem to mind, if anything he squeezes her tighter than she’s doing to him, trembling slightly against her, like he’s barely keeping himself together.

“I’m staying until you kick me out,” she blurts out, because it seems important, and she doesn’t have anything better to offer him. “You don’t have to be alone, alright?”

Time seems to freeze for a moment, she is pretty sure he even stopped breathing, then it’s like he has come to lean on her with the full weight of his grief, his cheek pressed against her hair as he takes a sharp breath.

“Thank you,” he rasps out. She thinks he’s crying again, but she doesn’t look, she just clings to his shirt and forgets about ever letting go.

**Author's Note:**

> This story is part of the [LLF Comment Project](https://longlivefeedback.tumblr.com/llfcommentproject), which was created to improve communication between readers and authors. This author invites and appreciates comments, including: 
> 
>   * Short comments
>   * Long comments
>   * Questions
>   * “<3” as extra kudos
>   * Reader-reader interaction
> 
> If you don’t want a reply, for any reason, feel free to sign your comment with “whisper” and I will appreciate it but not respond!


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